Dispensing containers containing a liquid such as a beverage may require to be mounted into a dispensing appliance for dispensing the liquid contained therein. The dispensing appliance comprises at least one dispensing tube bringing in fluid communication the volume of the container containing the liquid with ambient. This dispensing duct is usually provided with a valve for controlling the flow of liquid out of the container. In order to drive the flow of liquid out of the container, a dispensing appliance usually also comprises means for creating a pressure difference between the interior of the container and ambient to drive the liquid out of the container. Said means may be simply gravity driven, by positioning the dispensing duct below the level of liquid like in old oak barrels for wine or in soap dispensers in public washrooms, but more advantageously, they comprise either means for increasing the pressure inside the container or, alternatively, decreasing the pressure outside the container, such as with a pump. If the pressure is being increased inside the container, such dispensing system is referred to herein as a “pressure dispensing” system, whilst a “vacuum dispensing” system refers to systems where the pressure outside the container is decreased. A pump may be used in both pressure and vacuum dispensing systems. For pressure dispensing systems, however, other means can be used such as pressurized gas stored in a pressure cartridge and/or adsorbed on a carrier. Said means for storing pressurized gas may be provided either in the container or in the appliance. If a source of pressurized gas external to the container is used, the dispensing appliance shall require at least a second, gas tube to be connected to a corresponding aperture in the closure or container body in fluid communication with the interior of the container.
The gas connection may serve either to inject pressurized gas into the container to drive the flow of liquid out of the container (“pressure dispensing” systems), or to allow air into the container to fill the volume of dispensed liquid such as to maintain the pressure relatively constant in the container (“vacuum dispensing” and “gravity dispensing” systems). The container may comprise a single wall (although the wall can be a laminate) or may comprise several detachable layers, such as in bag-in-containers and bladder-in-containers. Bag-in-containers, also referred to as bag-in-bottles or bag-in-boxes depending on the geometry of the outer vessel, all terms considered herein as being comprised within the meaning of the term bag-in-container, are a family of liquid dispensing packaging consisting of an outer container comprising an opening to the atmosphere—the mouth—and which contains a collapsible inner bag joined to said container and opening to the atmosphere at the region of said mouth. The liquid is contained in the inner bag. The system must comprise at least one vent fluidly connecting the atmosphere to the region between the inner bag and the outer container in order to control the pressure in said region to squeeze the inner bag and thus dispense the liquid contained therein (cf. e.g., WO2008/129018 and GB8925324). Alternatively, in bladder-in-containers, the liquid is contained in the outer container and the inner bag, generally called a bladder, is either inflated to drive the flow of liquid out of the container, or simply put in fluid connection with atmospheric, in order to balance the pressure inside the container (cf. WO9015774, EP1647499, WO2010055057, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,758, GB9504284, FR2602222, GB8806378). The advantage of bag-in-containers and bladder-in-containers over single wall containers is that the liquid is never in contact with an external gas. The present invention applies to any type of containers provided with a closure comprising at least one aperture and is particularly suitable for pressure driven systems, more particularly for bag-in-containers and bladder-in-containers.
The flow through the dispensing tube is generally controlled by a valve. Many types of valves have been used in dispensing appliances. For hygienic reasons, however, as well as for not mixing different tastes when using containers containing different liquids, the dispensing tube is preferably changed with each new container being mounted into the appliance. Of course, each new tube could be provided with a new valve, but this increases the cost of use of such dispensing systems. It is therefore preferred that the valve be part of the dispensing appliance and a disposable dispensing tube of cheap design be inserted and somehow controlled by said valve. An example of a solution to said problem is given in WO2005/110912 wherein a disposable dispensing tube can be mounted with a new container into a spout of the appliance provided with a pinch valve, the portion of said tube coming in contact with the pinch valve being flexible. The outlet of the dispensing tube facing downwards, and the pinching means (110) being located substantially at the elbow formed by the flexible portion of the dispensing tube, before it becomes oriented downwards, there is invariably some dripping of the liquid occurring after each use of the dispensing unit although the valve is in a “closed” position. This drawback can of course somehow be attenuated by using a dripping tray to collect any liquid dripping out of the dispensing tube, but this solution is certainly not optimal as it requires the emptying of the tray at regular intervals, and a tray is not always easy to fit below the dispensing tube, such as for instance for appliances sitting on a shelf of a conventional fridge as disclosed in US2009/0140006, in which a pinching valve is also disclosed in FIGS. 37 & 38, yielding the same problem of dripping after use than the appliance disclosed in WO2005/110912.
There therefore remains a need for a dispensing appliance allowing to easily and economically change the dispensing tube with each new container loaded in said appliance, and yet avoiding or reducing substantially the dripping of liquid after each use of the appliance. The present solution proposes a solution to meet said need. This and other objects of the invention are presented hereinbelow.